Jessica Kopp

my sweet sweet girls

Abby and Syd are totally intrigued by this whole pregnant, baby growing in mommy's tummy thing. At the beginning they thought the baby looked just like a normal baby just really really really small, so when we showed them a book about how the baby changes and develops every week they were completely fascinated and started asking questions. EVERYDAY!

Does the baby look like a baby and not a fish yet?  Does he have ears? Does the baby have fingers yet? Does the baby have fingers nails? How big is the baby today? Does he have hair? Can he talk? Can the baby hear me when I talk?  Does he cry in your belly? Why does he have to stay in there so long? 

Everyday I've chuckled at what they came up with. They love this little guy so much already and are so excited to meet him and take care of him.

The last few weeks I've noticed a change in the questions (and statements). They are no longer focusing on the baby, but on ME and my ever expanding belly. 

Are you sure there is only ONE baby in there? Why do you have to get so big? Are you going to get even bigger? What is happening to your belly button? That baby is taking up all the room on your lap. You didn't look like this when you had Syd. You have to go to the bathroom again! Did you know you are getting these lines along the side of your belly? I really think you are having twins. 

I've decided all I can do is laugh. They love me, they love the baby and I love them.

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BABY UPDATE: 

Went to the doctor yesterday. Other than I had to take the nasty diabetic test drink and they had to draw my blood, things are going great. I'm convinced their scale is wrong, but I'm sure the extra weight was my shoes I forgot to take off:) The good news is I'm only measuring one week ahead versus my four weeks ahead last time so maybe my largeness is slowing down and I won't be having a 10 pound baby.

I'm in the middle of my 28th week and can't believe I have only 12 more weeks or under 80 more days. I think I'm starting to drive Derek crazy with my over-the-top urgency to get things done NOW before the baby comes. He doesn't seem to think we are running out of time as much as I do. I just see a lot of furniture moving and painting in his future, with me setting on the side watching. I've decided I'm stuck in a strange place with this baby....on one hand I feel prepared because I've done this twice before and have most of the 'stuff', but on the other hand I feel very unprepared because it has been almost 7 years since I've done this and my life is kind of in a nice comfy place. I don't know if I'm ready for the craziness to begin.

I'm pregnant.....and I thought it was obvious

There is no question I'm pregnant. We left the "is she getting fat or pregnant?" stage months ago. I get questions about the due date and sex (male or female) everywhere I go from complete strangers. But this morning at the dentist, they couldn't seem to figure it out. 

I will admit I wasn't going to make it easy on them. As soon as I saw the look of fear cross over the hygienist's face as she looked at my belly, I chuckled to myself. She was in a horrible situation. She HAD to know whether I was pregnant or not for the xrays, but if she asked and I wasn't she would basically be announcing she thought I was fat.  She kind of small talked for a minute, leaving the conversation wide open for me to mention it at any time, but when I said nothing she walked away in kind of a panic. I glanced back to see her having an 'emergency' conference with two other hygienists. They all keep glancing in my direction and one even came over and cleaned a tool to get a better look.

It took a couple of minutes, but finally, with a plan in place, they all walked back over. This is the conversation that followed:

hygienist: have you had any change in your medical history since we last meet?

me: what do you mean?

(This was too much fun, I wasn't going to let them off that easy.)

hygienist: like any new medications?

me: no

hygienist: any surgeries?

me: no

hygienist: any medical procedures?

me: no

hygienist: any new.........conditions?

me: no

hygienist: (thinking, pausing, thinking) any medical procedures or surgeries planned for........ the future?

me: nothing really..........but I am having a baby in July. Would that count?

They all let out sigh of relief. I kind of wish I'd held out for another round of questions. I would have liked to see what they come up with next, but I didn't want to be mean. 

what do you think?

We love American Idol at our house this season. Usually the girls only watch the first couple of audition episodes and then get bored, but this year they are totally into it because we let them vote for their favorite. It is so funny to listen to them decide who to vote for. One night Abby just couldn't decided and wanted to vote once for all of them. They spend the whole show falling in love with one singer after another, making him or her their favorite. They are constantly changing their minds on who they are going to vote for and want to win.

The other reason Idol has been such a hit at our house is Matt. He looks exactly like my brother. I didn't see it at first, but now I can't NOT see it. It's something in his eyes and smile and chin. They make similar expressions and have the same mannerisms. When he sings I can't keep my eyes off of him. It's crazy and kind of creepy. I'm just glad Steve wasn't into wearing funky hats all the time.

What do you think? Can you see it too? I think tonight might be his final appearance, after being saved last week, so tune in and let me know what you think.

for sale: bugs 25¢

Abby has a fan club.

 It consist of every 5, 6 and 7 year old boy in the neighborhood.

Abby is my tomboy. She has never been into dress-ups and glitter and girly things, but has always loved being outside, covered in dirt, hiking, camping, digging for bugs, playing legos and riding her bike. And for all those reasons, the neighborhood boys love her. They wait on our porch for her to come home from school everyday and can't wait to see what adventure she makes up for them next.

Last week Abby decided they should have a sale. They spent a couple of hours looking under every rock and log in the yard and gathered a huge collection of bugs. They then set up the card table in the driveway and proceeded to sale them. Most bugs where 25¢ but there was also a very large cricket that was 50¢ and a grasshopper that had tried to escape and had lost a leg that was on "clearance." 

They didn't make a lot of money, only 25¢ from Syd for a worm, but they had a blast. Abby told me they are going to try it again this week, but maybe if they make a sign they will make more money. A member of the club has knocked on the door everyday since asking if it was "bug sale" day yet.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. 

right now

A little glimpse into the Kopp house at 9:00 PM on a Wednesday night.

Right now 

I'm sitting on the couch trying to watch Friends. The girls should be in bed asleep, but aren't. Abby just informed me that she had soccer practice today at 6 (oops). Sydney is listening to Obama on her ipod. Derek is at band practice. Abby just came down for the 3rd time, this time to tell me she is sick. Syd in coughing like crazy, the medicine isn't helping. The little guy is doing jumping-jacks in my stomach. I wish Derek was home so we could watch the latest episode of Lost. I'm not sad Scott was eliminated from American Idol tonight. I just found a huge blob of pancake batter on my pants from the 'healthy' dinner I made for the family. I think it is finally silent up stairs. Friends is over. I'm going to sign off and go to the bathroom again for the hundredth time today.

Good Night!

Katelyn Ann

We spent the weekend is Tremonton with the family celebrating Easter (a little early) and Shayna asked me to take a couple of shots of Katelyn. She is growing up so fast and I can't believe she turns one next month. I loved being able to capture her personality at this age. She makes the funniest faces. I personally love how she scrunches up her little button nose.

Enjoy!

ready for tomorrow

When I started this blog, I promised to not tell the good and the bad. Well, today was the bad. Have you ever had one of those days you just wanted to end? You were ready to be done and move onto the next day? Start over? Today was that day for me. Nothing really huge happened, it just feels like nothing was working right. 

Here is a run down of the days highlights.

-I woke up to a snowstorm, in APRIL. My 20 minutes commute to work took over an hour and 20 minutes because of the blizzard and all the wrecks, making me miss my morning meeting. Once I finally got to work, I got into a little email 'discussion' that was a total train wreck and exploded in my face.

-At lunch I had a doctor's appointment with a new doctor. I got lost going to his office, was 45 minutes late, had to wait 45 more minutes to see the doctor and was then told how large I'm getting by measuring 28 weeks at my 24 week appointment. 

-I got stuck in more traffic on the way home and while waiting called a friend and found out she had really been struggling lately and I had totally missed it and hadn't been there for her.

-I was so glad to see the girls at home, only to discover that homework and reading hadn't been done and all they really wanted to do was run around and yell at each other in our dirty house.  

-Derek called and told me about a friend who had just miscarried a baby at 10 week.

-We had hot dogs for dinner. I HATE hot dogs.

I'm glad today is over. I'm ready for a new day. A day of possibilities. Right now I'm going to switch on the tivo, watch a little Oprah and eat some chocolate. I've earned it.